Biden hails state's rebuilding efforts

Vice president holds up recovery from storms as model for nation

By Jordan Carleo-Evangelist

Updated 6:59 pm, Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Courtesy Kyle Hughes of NYSNYS.com.

Media: Times Union

Albany

Citing New York's history of transformational infrastructure projects, Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed the state's recovery from Superstorm Sandy and tropical storms Irene and Lee as a model for the forward-thinking development that will keep the country competitive in the 21st century.

"We have to once again act like America," Biden said at the Capitol after being briefed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the state's efforts to rebuild critical infrastructure in the wake of the three storms that devastated parts of upstate and New York City since 2011.

Biden used the roughly 20-minute pep talk on the eve of Cuomo's Wednesday State of the State address to emphasize the necessity of thinking big and investing in infrastructure projects that repair what wind, rain and floodwaters destroy and position the state to take advantage of new economic development opportunities.

Biden lamented the outdated condition of many U.S. airports, ports and rail networks — prompting Cuomo to tease an announcement in his Wednesday speech regarding New York City airports, for which his infrastructure plan already includes $257 million in upgrades.

Vice President Joseph Biden enters the Red Room of the Capitol Tuesday morning Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. where he met with Governor Andrew Cuomo, Congressman Paul Tonko and the heads of the NYS Legislature. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden enters the Red Room of the Capitol Tuesday morning Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. where he met with Governor Andrew Cuomo, Congressman Paul Tonko and the heads of the NYS Legislature. ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Newly elected Mayor of Albany Kathy Sheehan sits between Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, left, and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, right, before the appearance of Vice President Joseph Biden in the Red Room of the Capitol Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Newly elected Mayor of Albany Kathy Sheehan sits between Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, left, and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy, right, before the appearance of Vice President Joseph Biden in the Red Room ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Legislative heads and Governor Andrew Cuomo joined Vice President Joseph Biden in the Red Room of the Capitol Tuesday morning for a briefing on Super Storm Sandy rehab Jan. 7, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Legislative heads and Governor Andrew Cuomo joined Vice President Joseph Biden in the Red Room of the Capitol Tuesday morning for a briefing on Super Storm Sandy rehab Jan. 7, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (Skip ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden laughs at a remark by Governor Andrew Cuomo Tuesday morning Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Vice President Joseph Biden laughs at a remark by Governor Andrew Cuomo Tuesday morning Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, listens to Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, listens to Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, listens to Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, listens to Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, listens to Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, right, gestures following Gov. Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, right, gestures following Gov. Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, center, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, center, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, right, takes over the discussion after Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, right, takes over the discussion after Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, center, takes over the discussion after Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, center, takes over the discussion after Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, gestures to Gov. Andrew Cuomo following the governor's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden takes over the discussion after Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden takes over the discussion after Governor Andrew Cuomo's address on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden, left, shakes hands with Gov. Andrew Cuomo after the conclusion of a discussion on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden, left, shakes hands with Gov. Andrew Cuomo after the conclusion of a discussion on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in ... more

Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN

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Vice President Joseph Biden waves as he leaves following Governor Andrew Cuomo's discussion on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) less

Vice President Joseph Biden waves as he leaves following Governor Andrew Cuomo's discussion on the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, 2014, in the Red Room of the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. ... more

While police close down part of Albany-Shaker Rd. a helicopter is seen in the sky checking over Wolf Rd. as Vice President Joe Biden arrives at the airport on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Colonie, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less

While police close down part of Albany-Shaker Rd. a helicopter is seen in the sky checking over Wolf Rd. as Vice President Joe Biden arrives at the airport on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Colonie, N.Y. (Lori Van ... more

Photo: Lori Van Buren

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The motorcade transporting Vice President Joe Biden is seen heading down State St. after the Vice President met with Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

The motorcade transporting Vice President Joe Biden is seen heading down State St. after the Vice President met with Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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The motorcade transporting Vice President Joe Biden is seen heading down State St. after the Vice President met with Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

The motorcade transporting Vice President Joe Biden is seen heading down State St. after the Vice President met with Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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The motorcade transporting Vice President Joe Biden is seen heading down State St. after the Vice President met with Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

The motorcade transporting Vice President Joe Biden is seen heading down State St. after the Vice President met with Governor Andrew Cuomo at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in Albany, N.Y. (Paul ... more

Photo: Paul Buckowski

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Biden hails state's rebuilding efforts

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"There's a New York tradition that started with one of your predecessors, DeWitt Clinton. He built the Erie Canal," Biden told Cuomo. "It wasn't a damaged infrastructure. It was a need for a whole new infrastructure for a new world. It literally opened the West."

Biden's remarks came as Cuomo announced a $16.7 billion plan to broaden those recovery efforts, including expanding New York's first-in-the-nation, state-based strategic oil reserve from Long Island to upstate, $18.6 million to quintuple the number of weather recording stations in the state and $486 million for replacing more than 100 at-risk bridges — including the Route 32 bridge over the Mohawk River in Cohoes, among nearly two-dozen in the Capital Region.

Courtesy Kyle Hughes of NYSNYS.com.

Media: Times Union

Cuomo also revealed plans for what he called the first-ever college of emergency preparedness, affiliated with the State University of New York, and the training of a 100,000-strong civilian first responder corps. He also wants to expand into upstate the requirement that gas stations within a half-mile of critical travel routes have access to back-up power supplies to keep gas flowing during extended power grid failures.

Cuomo said the state will also hold a $40 million competition known as the NY Prize to create 10 independent, community-based power distribution systems known as microgrids to stem the spread of the storm-caused outages when the main power supply fails.

The state will also pledge $147 million toward flood prevention projects, including replacing 7,750 feet of deteriorating Troy seawall dating to 1920, reinforcing Dove Creek Wall in Amsterdam and $1 million to install a flood monitoring system in Schoharie, which was devastated by Tropical Storm Irene.

The single biggest-ticket item in Cuomo's plan is a $5 billion overhaul of the New York City subway system to better protect it against floodwaters such as the deluge during Sandy in October 2012. Cuomo's office said the vast majority of the funding for all the projects will come from the state's share of some $60 billion in federal aid approved by Congress in Sandy's wake, $6 billion of which Biden said has already been steered to New York.

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Biden, who recalled witnessing the damage wrought to New York City's subways and electric grid in Sandy's aftermath, hailed the state for refusing to settle for rebuilding what had existed before.

"That's not the standard in the 21st century. That cannot be the standard," Biden said. "We have to rebuild in a way that you will not be victimized by a similar storm again. Because if we don't, we're just wasting money. And we're essentially engaging in false advertising."

U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko, an Amsterdam Democrat who returned to Washington with Biden aboard the vice president's airplane, echoed that sentiment.

"I think we take lessons from Mother Nature and we show that we learned those lessons well," said Tonko, whose district was hit hard by the twin storms of Irene and Lee in August and September 2011 and then again by severe flooding this summer. "If data tell us that there is this inordinate increase in water ... are you going to replace a bridge at the same span at the same height?"

The same waterways that threaten the Capital Region during severe storms can also be a source of economic growth — through tourism and business development — if officials learn the proper lessons from past mistakes, Tonko said.

"I'm a believer that we're transitioning from an oil-based economy to a water-based economy," he said.

As the city of Albany undertakes a tactical study of its downtown and the nearby Hudson riverfront, officials have become wary of the risks, said new Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who joined Troy Mayor Lou Rosamilia and Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy in the Capitol's Red Room for Biden's appearance.

"I think it certainly signals that the White House must like the approach New York is taking recovering from these storms, that we're not simply looking to rebuild but to restructure," Sheehan said. "Those are the very questions we are asking as we think about additional development along the waterfront ... How do we make the riverfront a more attractive place, but how do we make sure that development anticipates the high-water events that could occur?"

Biden said officials have little choice but to quickly and intelligently adopt to a new reality in which storms threaten areas once long believed to be beyond their reach.

"Manhattan is like much of my state; it is essentially at sea level," Biden, a longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, said. "We don't have much of an option."